horse-drawn carriage

At the turn of the 20th century, the first Model T Ford was still almost a decade from leaving the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company’s Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan and horse-drawn carriages were the primary mode of transportation. Carriage houses, like the one at 406 West 45th Street, built in 1905 for Oakleigh Thorne, owner of Thorndale Farms in Dutchess County, were necessary to properly store the carriages and associated equipment, such as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, etc.

By 1927, over 15 million Model T-Fords had been produced and the horse and buggy was on its way to being a novelty from a simpler time, and carriage houses were eventually given second lives as garages, offices, workshops, restaurants and, as in the case of the aptly named Thorndale, beautiful residences.